Theory of Government in Ancient India (Post-Vedic) c11.s2.1

c11.s2.1

In point of extent, Buddhist political literature is surpassed by the Jaina. The method and tenets of the science of government evolved by Brāhmaṇas in the long course of centuries were adopted by the Jainas. In its origin Jainism was contemporaneous with Buddhism or older than it. It spread to every corner of India and was professed by kings of many dynasties in the south and rest of the country. It produced a Sanskrit and Pāli-literature which, in its vastness and variety, challenges comparison with Brāhmaṇic and Buddhist lore. According to the universal tradition, Jaina Siddhānta or doctrine was reduced to writing only in the fifth century A.D. at the council of Valabhi which was presided over by Devarddhi Gaṇin, but the theological and philosophical works certainly go back to older times. Those which contain political reflections belong to the age which saw the rise of Hindu Smṛitis and Purāṇas. In the hands of Jaina authors the current theories of the origin and character of government receive a fresh turn or elaboration which merits attention. One of the finest presentations of Jaina theory occurs in the Ādi Purāṇa which was composed by Jinasenācārya and, after his death, continued by Guṇabhadrācārya, in or about the eighth century A.D.¹